Ten of us attended training to either renew or gain our "Emergency first aid at work" certificate.

The training is provided by Steve Blount and he makes it an enjoyable experience by adding in many anecdotes. Training is available for any club member aged 16+ and the club pays for the training in order to increase coverage of first aid assistance at our events. Contact Steve Blount if you would like to take part in the next session.

Southdowns entered a team of just under 50 runners to the final of the UK inter-club competition - the CompassSport Cup final on 21st Oct 2018. The final was held on Cannock Chase which many of our members had enjoyed earlier in the year at the Easter JK festival. Unfortunately the summer vegetation was still present making progress in a straight line difficult and often hiding the controls. Despite this we came an excellent 5th - our best performance for a few years.

From the end of September until Easter SO will be running a series of training activities on Tuesday evenings between 7:30 and 8:30. The social aspect of these activities are just as important as the training themselves, and many of the activities will be undertaken in pairs or groups. Some participants will retire to a local hostelry afterwards for post training refreshments. Each month we will put on different types of training, see below for more details.

It was the Junior Inter-Regional Championships (JIRC's) on 29th and 30th Sept 2018 with Individual Races at Chatsworth House and Relays at Carsington Pastures. SO have a number of juniors in the South East Junior Squad (SEJS) - Amelia, Maddie, Sam, Stanley, Ffion, Scarlet & Tommy and they all helped the team to an amazing 4th place. The best result since 2006!

British Orienteering sponsored a 'youth activity day' for M/W10-14's at High Ashurst Outdoor Activity Centre near Dorking on Wednesday 24th October. Aimed at juniors from London and the South East, the day included orienteering exercises during the morning (including planning courses), as well as outdoor activities like high ropes, climbing wall and archery.

Having qualified from the regional heat at Balcombe we are off to the final again. The final is on Cannock Chase (similar terrain to this year's JK) on Sunday Oct 21st. If there is enough interest we may hire a coach to take us up there and back on the day. I have set up an online poll at https://doodle.com/poll/8xbxs3... for members to indicate their availability and interest in a coach.

Congratulations to Jack Kosky who finished 2nd (but first British runner) on the Men's Elite course at the race held around the City and South Bank. Also on the podium was Ruth Rhodes 2nd in the Women's Hypervets class. Near misses for Neil Crickmore (4th in Men's Supervets), Lucy Thraves (an excellent 7th in Women's Elite) and Robin Smith (7th in Men's Ultravets). Results can be found at http://slow.org.uk/racereports...

On Saturday 8th Sept 2018, a minibus containing 9 SO Juniors and 3 adults headed north to Tankersley Woods in Sheffield for the annual Peter Palmer Relays – a team race that starts in the dark at 05:00 in the morning (first alarm clock this year hit us at 3:55am!).

Stan Heap on the first leg brought the team back in an incredible 2nd place, handing over to sister Scarlet who put in another comfortable night leg, navigating through the complex contours and twisty path network.

Congratulations to our three medal winners Mike Gammon Gold in M85, Jonny Crickmore Gold in M21 and Roger Maher Bronze in M80. A further ten Southdowners put in top 10 performances. Results can be found at: http://www.sportident.co.uk/re...

SO managed three podium places at the British Sprints with Jonny Crickmore winning the elite men's trophy, Ruth Rhodes winning W75 and Will Heap earning a silver medal in M45. Honourable mentions to Scarlet Heap (W16) and Neil Crickmore (M55) for their 5th places. Results can be found at: http://www.sportident.co.uk/re...

For some Southdowners, August Bank Holiday weekend means travelling to the North York Moors for the annual White Rose weekend of Orienteering. The event is a great social occasion and is always based around a central event campsite with most events only walking distance away. The prestigious prize that everyone pursues is the White Rose Mug!